I'm pleased to introduce you to our newest Local Search Forum sponsor.

Grade.us is a leading review management and marketing platform for marketing consultants, agencies and SEOs. So there's only one way to introduce them...
and that's with reviews by marketing consultants, agencies and SEOs!

John Jantsch:"Grade.us is a great tool for automating the review generation process, making it as easy as possible to add this source of content and SEO to the mix... We are big fans and have found that this is the easiest way to get review wins for our clients... Just make sure you use all the tools - reviews happen from offline interaction as well as online."

Martin Shervington:"The ease of use on a mobile device makes a huge difference to being able to a) ask people for reviews (when appropriate), and as well as b) the likelihood that the reviewer on an iPhone and on an Android device will be able to access the correct pages... Businesses need easier ways to get reviews, and Grade.us is a perfect solution."

Phil Rozek:"Grade.us is nicely put together. It�s quick and simple to set up your page, and it makes it simple for customers to post reviews."

"If you're a local agency providing online services for local businesses this will give you another weapon in your arsenal of services. This software gives you total control to white label it as your own. If your shopping cost and ROI this is the best solution I have found." -- Brad S.

"Grade.us has best balance of features vs. cost that I've found on the market, and it excels at the most important task � helping the business or organization acquire reviews." -- Michael C.

"After comparing numerous solutions I liked Grade.Us features the best. The email drip campaign/funnel makes the process a no-brainer. A lot of flexibility in the set-up options. Like how it can integrate with marketing on and offline." --Michael R.

"Businesses that I've gotten signed up on Grade.us have all experienced an uptick in reviews, positive reviews and search engine rankings." -- Consultant

"Try it out and you won't use any other service... Most of the other review services are clunky and want you to submit reviews on their sites first not actual review sites customers will see." -- Justin H.

"Jon and the team at Grade.us provide outstanding customer service and their product outshines all the others I've tried. Simple and an extremely intuitive SaaS." -- Kevin Q.

"I really like that I can easily white label it to my company branding and domain or even to other domains that I may want to use. They keep making it better and better by enhancing the features and making great changes..." -- Peter B.

"From it's no-nonsense dashboard and ease of setup to the complete white labeling of the software, it's been a joy to use." -- Jon Y.

"The customer service team is great. From the quick response to any question to the follow up on it... We need a high level of customization not only in the platform but in the reporting. Grade.us has been great about these requests and we have been able to fulfill our clients requests on time." -- Victoria G.

"The software is simple to use and the almost instant service from the support team is something not often seen online... If you're looking to build a robust review funnel, then these guys have to be on your shortlist." -- Anonymous Agency

"I love the automation of the reminder emails sent to potential reviewers and past customers." --
Graeme L.

"I like that Grade.us is extremely easy to setup and configure as well as simple to use. Furthermore, support is impeccable and very responsive. We can't be happier... I highly recommend Grade.us to anyone searching for review management software. It has worked flawlessly for us as well as our clients." -- Joseph W.

"The service is very flexible, especially for companies that want to use their white label version. I get to use my own domain and branding with clients. The actual suite of services is great... They're really on top of changes in the reviews environment." -- Peter W.

"Grade.us is a robust review management software solution that makes my job SO much easier. From helping us gather reviews to reporting them internally and so many other things. I rely on it. The team behind Grade.us is on top of things. Always working to improve the software and communicating it quickly and well." -- Kim D.

"When a client requested a software system to allow near real time streaming of new reviews to their website, I chose Grade.us from among the similar services. Grade.us gathers nightly from the listings on Google+, Facebook, Yelp or any other directories that my client's customers use frequently for reviews. I can manage that whole set of review site choices and provide my client with simple Review Us emails that they can send to each customer. I have since added 4 more clients to the Grade.us system." -- Garry M.

(3) Monitor reviews across the major, minor or industry review sites you care about

(4) Amplify your positive reviews to reach a broader audience, whether by streaming them to your Wordpress or Joomla site in schema markup, turning them into automated social media posts, or providing them in real-time from our API to your own application.

Rather than rattle off a list of Grade.us features, I want to use this announcement to simply say "hi" and explain why we're sponsoring Local Search Forum.

I've been active here on and off the last few years, and what I love about this community is that is consists of savvy business owners and local marketers not just building but *sharing* their success. Originally a software guy steeped in open source culture, I always try to keep that mindset:
Let all boats rise with the tide.

Well, there is an awesome tide rising for local businesses - and for businesses generally - driven by the "voice of the customer."

I look forward to sharing more about it here in the coming months. And by all means, contact me if you'd like to learn more about our work.

A note from Linda: With the growing emphasis on local reviews and the ever increasing complexity of getting them, I'm happy to have a comprehensive review solution like Grade.us as a sponsor. And since Grade.us specializes in while label solutions, their platform is a great option for all the consultants and agencies that frequent the forum.

Most of the regulars here know Jon already, since he's been active at the forum for quite some time. He's very approachable and happy to help, so feel free to reach out to him with any questions you have.